Habitat For Humanity Volunteers Update Veteran's Home

A U.S. Navy veteran spoke Saturday about receiving much-needed help from volunteers.

Zane Kasler, 90, said that he was grateful for the outpouring of help from Habitat for Humanity on Saturday.

"It's out of the blue to me," Kasler said. "It's going to improve the value of the property."

The volunteers worked to renovate his home, 10TV's Chuck Strickler reported.

"When you consider what they did for this country, to give us the freedoms that we enjoy today, it seems to me a small price to come out and volunteer and help make his home habitable, so he can stay in this home," said E.J. Thomas with Habitat for Humanity.

Kasler visited almost every continent and ended up fighting in the South Pacific during World War II in the 1940s, Strickler reported.

Since settling in Columbus, his home has been in need of repair, Strickler reported. Tiles chipped in the bathroom, windows became drafty and the porch was falling apart.

That's when Habitat for Humanity volunteers stepped in.

"We've got a new bathroom going on, so it will be handicap accessible. There are new windows to make the home more energy efficient, and a new porch that goes in the front of the house," Thomas said.

Volunteers will put between 800 and 900 hours of work into Kasler's home, Strickler reported. The $7,500 spent on the project is part of a special grant.

"To see these folks come out on a rainy Saturday like this and spend their time working for someone they've not met, that they don't know, is really heartening," Thomas said.

Habitat for Humanity also encourages the 'Habitat for Heroes' program, which helps veterans and members of the military access affordable housing.

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